A Growing Fascination
by Calantha S
Summary: The Sun, the Sea, and the Host Club episode from Kyoya's point of view, following the events of the live Japanese drama. Kyoya jumps off the cliff to save Haruhi immediately after Tamaki does. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I absolutely love the live drama version of Ouran (which you can watch on dramago by searching ouran), so what you are about to read is a mix of the live drama and anime. It all adds up to Kyoya goodness :)

Set during the sun, the sea, and the host club episode 8 (anime) and episode 5 of the drama*.

*If you haven't watched the drama, this story has the host club going to Nekozawa's private beach instead of Kyoya's. You're also in for a big surprise - I hope you enjoy!

-

Kyoya was fully aware of his growing fascination with Haruhi. It was _because_ of that fascination that Kyoya arranged to bring their clients on the Okinawa trip. Since there was no merit to his fascination with Haruhi, he saw no reason to grow it further, which would surely result if he spent the weekend with a swimsuit-clad Haruhi.

Plus, he would have to see the twins hanging all over her while she was showing so much skin. And while he knew that Haruhi wouldn't let the twins hang there for long, he was loathe to see their hands anywhere on her.

And Tamaki - Kyoya shuddered to think of what appalling situations Tamaki would concoct in his inner mind theater with Haruhi in a swimsuit. The twit was already half in love with her. No need to encourage that further.

Mori-senpai was a lesser irritation, but an irritation nonetheless. Mori may not interact with Haruhi often, but he watched her almost as much as he watched Honey. The watching seemed to increase in frequency since the water park fiasco. Kyoya had a feeling that Mori would definitely watch Haruhi closely this weekend - which would annoy Kyoya to no end.

Honey-senpai was the least of Kyoya's worries - although it did irk him that Honey hugged Haruhi all the time. The short senpai was able to get away with it due to that innocent looking face. Haruhi even let Honey get away with things that she never would with the twins, so in that sense Honey was a dangerous rival.

Of course, all of that had _nothing_ to do with the decision to bring their clients along, Kyoya rationalized.

The host club would make money. And that (as they say) was that.

...

Kyoya noticed Haruhi wiping the sweat off her brow as she sat under her umbrella and chatted with some of their clients in the summer heat. There was a small part of him - just a small one - that felt bad, considering it was his fault that she had to wear a sweatshirt because of the ladies. She must be dying from the heat. Ranka had informed him that Haruhi now had to wrap her chest in order to keep wearing the men's uniform.

...

...

...Haruhi's chest...

...

...

The timer on his watch went off breaking him from his... fascination.

Experiencing a frustrating mix of irritation from being interrupted, and relief that he was, he switched on his host club smile and turned to the lady spending time with Tamaki on the rock in the ocean. "Your private time is up." Ignoring the lady's protests, he turned to the next in line. "Next person, please," he said brightly forcing himself to the matter at hand.

He. Was. A. Moron. No more. He needed to distance himself. No merit. None whatsoever!

With that, Kyoya was resolved not to be irritated when the twins watched Haruhi and commented that they wanted to see her in a swimming suit (over his dead body), to not be irritated by Tamaki's surely disturbing inner mind theater (the moron), to not be irritated by Honey's attempt to cutely seduce Haruhi into spending time with him (hellfish shunting? Really?).

He did, however, have to revise his estimation of Honey-senpai's ability of wooing Haruhi. The little man was devious. Using food to win Haruhi's affections might actually work.

Honey had collaborated with Mori on that endeavor, apparently.

Kyoya paused and watched the exchange between Mori, Honey, and Haruhi. He wondered if Mori and Honey realized that competing for the same girl could hurt their familial relationship. He couldn't see Mori doing anything that might hurt Honey. Kyoya assumed that Mori would give up if it got down to it...

Oh.

Kyoya watched the expression on Mori's face as the man stood close to Haruhi and asked her the longest sentence that Kyoya had heard to date.

Maybe Mori _wouldn't_ give her up. That was interesting.

And irritating.

Kyoya mentally batted his irritation away, barely paying attention to Nekozawa as he pointed out Cat's Rock, apparently from which a person would never come back alive if they jumped off.

He did pay attention though when all of the ladies started screaming. His first thought was of Haruhi, but she was right in front of him so he calmed down and looked to the ladies.

He smirked when Haruhi stepped in to throw the bug away. He was impressed at her ability to do all things - big or small. He loved that about her. In a platonic, no merit kind of way, of course. It separated her from the other ladies there. Haruhi had a mind, a personality, opinions, a sense of humor, and an independence that was never evident in any of the ladies of the upper echelon. Kyoya could always count on her to be interesting.

He smiled when he overheard the twins manipulate Tamaki into finding out Haruhi's weakness. This was perfect and would serve his purposes threefold. It would: 1) get rid of his pictures of Haruhi that were tempting him day and... night, 2) help him determine if Haruhi actually liked one of these louts, and 3) allow him to gather data on a variety of host pairings that their clients weren't normally used to. It would be a potential money maker. Kyoya's glasses glinted in delight.

Haruhi's weakness (if she actually had one) did not particularly interest him.

In all honesty, if he were interested, he could just ask Ranka. He had already learned so much about Haruhi from her father. Everything he learned just added to his fascination with her.

...

Kyoya was resting in a lawn chair taking notes about the data he collected that afternoon. Apparently the girls thought that Haruhi and Honey made a cute pairing since they were both mildly effeminate (Kyoya choked a little on that one. How uncharacteristically perceptive. Bemused, he wondered if it was an insult to Haruhi to be considered only mildly effeminate).

He was shocked out of his thoughts when a girl ran to them screaming about Haruhi.

 _No._

Time came to a standstill as Kyoya got up and started to run to Haruhi. It felt like something was weighing him down and that he couldn't run fast enough. All he could think about was getting to her.

It wasn't until later that he came up with excuses for why he jumped off the cliff even though Tamaki already had. ...Kyoya was a better swimmer than Tamaki... ...The host club would lose money if Haruhi was hurt... ...Kyoya had a lot of medical expertise because of his family's industry...

None of these reasons were really what motivated him. He threw off his glasses as he ran and jumped off the cliff without knowing what laid below. He had to save her, he just had to.

...

He was freaking out. He knew the actual terminology involved shock and adrenaline, but the simple truth was that he was freaking out. He had already told Honey to call for the doctor, but Haruhi wasn't waking up. She wasn't spitting out the water either. His mind was moving both faster and slower than normal. Should he turn her over on her side? Was that right? Then she should cough everything out. Was she injured though? Would turning her make it worse? His brain was going in circles and he was panicking.

He ran his fingers through her hair and placed his hands on her face, praying that she would hear and feel him.

"Hey! Wake up! Haruhi! Hey!" Kyoya begged the girl.

Haruhi started coughing up water and he bowed his head in relief.

He quickly stepped away, not wanting anyone to see the relief, affection, and possibly even love in his eyes, least of all Haruhi. He was sure that the other men knew exactly how much she meant to him now, if they hadn't already.

He hated the fact that the shadow king had to appear emotionless. He was **angry**. He had been scared for Haruhi, and was still dealing with the adrenaline and the emotional aftermath involved even though the danger had passed.

In fact, now that the danger _had_ passed, new frustrations were surfacing, like the fact that Kyoya didn't get to beat up those punks from the cliff or how Kyoya was not the one currently holding Haruhi.

He fought to appear calm. He was the shadow king, after all. Kyoya stopped and swallowed his anger. Pushed everything down. Way down. He seethed, but made sure it was hidden.

To distract himself, he quietly asked Honey what had happened to the punks who had pushed Haruhi. When the female host felt well enough to ask that same question Kyoya was able to answer. He was straining to maintain his shadow king self, but knew he was failing miserably. She had shaken him badly.

He tuned back in while Tamaki was lecturing her. Kyoya knew Haruhi would misunderstand what Tamaki was trying to say. Damn it. He would have taken care of this a different way. If Tamaki hadn't been on his high horse, Kyoya could have resolved this peacefully. Instead, Kyoya would have to find a way to chat with her, and, thanks to that moron, she would now be sensitive to the topic and less likely to listen to anyone. Ranka had (unnecessarily) told Kyoya how stubborn Haruhi was...

Ranka!

Ranka was going to kill him. Kyoya had promised to watch over Haruhi and guaranteed her safety. Should he call Ranka? He felt like a newlywed husband working up the courage to tell the father-in-law that the precious daughter entrusted to him just got in an accident.

Could this day get any worse?

He left the cove before the other hosts in order to take care of their clients. He reassured them that Haruhi was fine and that the young man was sorry for having scared them. Kyoya sent the girls to their hotel and arranged for flowers to be sent to their rooms.

After coordinating all of that, he retraced his steps and found his glasses before heading back to the mansion. He thought it was appropriate that they were cracked. Much like his self-control when it came to Haruhi.

...

While Kyoya prided himself on his scholastic ability, he was finding it hard to concentrate at the moment.

Tamaki was crying in a corner and for once Kyoya actually agreed with the twins about something: Tamaki was annoying. He sighed and tried to continue working in the dimly lit room in Nekozawa's mansion.

He got up from the table though and stepped forward when Nekozawa asked about their accommodations.

Before anyone could offer to pay, he quickly said, "Thank you for your hospitality. We feel bad about staying here for free." He threw in a fake, hearty laugh for good measure.

At that moment the lights turned on. Ignoring Nekozawa's scream, Kyoya turned towards the footsteps he heard coming down the stairs and froze.

Wow.

Haruhi looked _lovely_ in that dress. Ranka must have packed it for her. Trying to be subtle, Kyoya quickly trailed his eyes down her body and glanced back up at her face. Luckily, she wasn't watching him. He turned to see what she _was_ looking at.

The moron with a bloody nose.

Kyoya's fist clenched, though he ignored the impulse to punch Tamaki for having a nosebleed right then. Perhaps Tamaki was telling the truth that his bloody nose was due to Nekozawa's violent reaction to the light.

...

The tension at the dinner table was palpable, but Kyoya didn't let it affect his eating. However, when Tamaki asked Kyoya to show him to his room, Kyoya gratefully accepted.

All the way to Tamaki's room (which was the furthest room from Haruhi's) Kyoya listened to his friend complain about his sunburn.

"If it gets too much to bear, come borrow my lotion. It will help with the sting," Kyoya told him at Tamaki's door. "If you want it though, come soon. Don't. wake. me. up," he growled in pure shadow king fashion.

With that, Kyoya considered Tamaki properly warned and headed back to his own room.

Once he entered the room, he headed to the bath and started the water. While doing so, he contemplated how to approach Haruhi. He couldn't let too much time pass, but he knew that it would take something drastic for her to listen to him at the moment.

He was still thinking about it when he left the bathroom.

He walked to his closet and put on a pair of pants. He looked at his broken glasses now laying on the shelf. Crap. He slipped them into his pocket. He would have to do something about that before tomorrow so Haruhi wouldn't ask questions.

Kyoya turned to his door in surprise when it opened of its own accord. He was further surprised to see Haruhi on the other side of it.

He couldn't believe that the very woman he was thinking about entered his room and proceeded to be sick in his bathroom.

Kyoya was nonplussed. It was a first for him. What was the protocol here? This kind of situation only happened in manga. If popular fiction were anything to go by, he should don the role of the white knight and comfort her. He balked at the thought. That was completely unlike him.

Suddenly, he had an idea that was much more suited to his shadow king persona.

Running his towel through his hair one last time, he made sure to set the stage. It was certainly dramatic enough to get her attention. Would she become leery of him after this? Would that necessarily be a bad thing since he shouldn't, even couldn't, be attracted to her? Maybe this would kill two birds with one stone. Despite the merits of this plan, he was still disheartened by the possibility that she'd think less of him.

His bathroom door opened. No more time to think about it. Show time.

He glanced at her casually.

"Kyoya-senpai."

Kyoya moved his towel to his neck. "You're done?"

"Sorry for making you worry this afternoon," she bowed.

"I wasn't especially worried," he drawled. "I don't gain any advantage out of doing that." Kyoya picked up a water bottle to distract himself from the lie. "But, you did give me a lot of work sending flowers to our customers to apologize for making them worry."

She moved closer to him. "I'm sorry for giving you so much work."

She paused, and then exclaimed, "Eh! Kyoya-senpai, your glasses?"

"Ah." He made a noncommittal noise as he thought about what to say. "I lost them."

Ostensibly, he turned his back to her to put his water bottle on the nearby chaise, but in reality he was taking a moment to regroup and gain courage for what he was about to do.

With his back still to her, he braced himself and asked,"Rather than that, what should we do now? Since this is such a rare occasion shall we do something?"

He turned around to face the innocent girl.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like something a man and woman would do," he said, voice low and seductive. He quickly turned the lights off and gripped her arm with enough force to have her looking up at him in surprise, but not pain.

"You said it had nothing to do with being a guy or a girl..." Kyoya began and then threw her on the bed. While he wanted to make it scary, he made sure she wouldn't hit her head or injure her body. He didn't want to hurt her, just make sure she actually knew the difference between men and women. What if a man attacked her like he was now, though with the intent of really doing something?

He continued his sentence after climbing on top of her and pinning her down, trying to be intimidating.

"...But as a guy I could reach out to you at any time. A girl like you would never be able to stop me. Before you say that it has nothing to do with it, think about how naive you are."

He kept his face close to hers and stared into her eyes, willing her to get his point.

He tightened his grip on her arms when Haruhi tested her strength as a woman against his as a man. While he hoped that her attempt would convince her that she needed to be more aware and careful, he wished that she didn't have to move so much against his lower regions! Her movements were quickly forcing him to think about sad things, smelly things, ugly, disgusting, non- **exciting** things. Staring into her eyes didn't help at all. Neither did straddling her. He barely got himself under control by the time she spoke.

"So there's this much difference," she quietly stated.

A wave of relief flowed over him when he heard her say that. Was she truly getting it? Just in case, he indulged himself and kept staring at her, knowing that this would likely be the last time she'd consent to be alone with him. He fought the sudden urge to kiss her and instead kept up the charade.

"But Kyoya-senpai, you won't do it because there is no advantage to doing this to me, right?"

He was floored.

Was he happy that she knew him well enough to understand his character? Was he _sad_ that she knew him well enough to understand his character? Why was it that when she categorized him like that it seemed as if his way of looking at the world was so cold?

And no advantage? In this situation? What did she think men were after when it came to women? He snorted. She was so naive.

He sat up, trying not to relish the feeling of being on top of her, a flicker of regret that this hadn't occurred under different circumstances in which she had come to his bed willingly.

He smiled at her naïveté and said, "You're right." He moved off of her to sit on the foot of the bed.

"You're a fascinating person, Haruhi." He paused, then addressed the elephant in the room. "So? Do you understand now?"

Please tell me this wasn't for nothing, he thought as he stood up.

"Yes. I understand that Kyoya-senpai is actually very kind."

He stilled. He couldn't believe his ears. He didn't want to allow himself to hope that he heard that correctly.

Cautiously, he asked, "What are you saying?"

"That was a follow up to Tamaki-senpai, right?

"You're pretending to be the bad guy on purpose to make me understand, right?"

Kyoya fidgeted for the first time in his life and scratched his face in embarrassment, happy that he wasn't facing her. He didn't know what to say. He was thrilled she had such faith in him. That she understood him. That she wasn't bolting for the door. He should apologize. Haruhi was taking this situation very nonchalantly, but suddenly it was very important to him that she understand he was a gentleman.

He was about to apologize to her when Tamaki barged into the room. Kyoya's momentary shock turned into slight guilt, which turned into a small bit of male pride, which finally ended up as a whole lot of irritation. Kyoya immediately grabbed the lotion and slammed it into the blond's face before he could overreact.

Kyoya kept walking, grabbed his shirt, and left the room. He purposefully didn't correct Tamaki's misconception though. "Homosexual supporting cast, indeed." It was childish, but it was so satisfying on many levels.

...

Kyoya closed the door behind him and paused.

"Really, how troublesome."

He kept thinking about the kind words she said. He was unsure of what to do with these feelings she raised in him. Just by saying two sentences she made him feel so happy. She was a strange person.

"Maybe I'm the strange one," he muttered. "'Even though there's nothing in it for me.'"

Haruhi might be naive, but so was he, apparently. How could he have ever thought that there was no merit to his fascination with Haruhi?

...

An epilogue describing the events of the following morning from Haruhi's point of view will be coming soon.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Kudos to those of you who caught Kyoya's reference towards the end to episode 3 "Beware the Physical Exam!"


	2. Epilogue

Epilogue. This takes place the morning after the previous chapter's events.

...

Haruhi woke to the sun streaming in her eyes. She looked at the clock and was startled to see how late it was. She lay without moving for a while, thoughts of yesterday's events going through her mind. One would think that almost dying would take precedence, but she found that she was focusing on the interlude with Kyoya-senpai.

It really touched her that he would put himself through that even though there was no merit for him. It was uncharacteristically sweet of him. Before this, she would never have used the word to him to describe him. But when she started thinking about their exchanges thus far, she could now see that he always had that side to him, even though he hid it well. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like he watched out for her, but arranged it so that someone else would get the credit. When he took pictures of Princess Ayanokouji throwing Haruhi's bag in the pond, when he rescued her from the physical exams (stupid Tamaki-senpai), his reaction when she was hurt when filming Renge's movie. She had thought he was the coldest of the rich bastards... But really, he was simply less demonstrative, while caring for her just as much as the others did.

She smiled as she thought about last night again. She should go and thank him. She believed in positive reinforcement and if anyone needed it, it was Kyoya-senpai.

She walked through the wing that Kyoya-senpai had negotiated with Nekozawa-senpai for her exclusive use. When she came to the edge of the landing she looked down into the communal room below. No Kyoya-senpai. He must be in his room. He struck her as the kind of guy who would wake up early.

She continued past the communal room and knocked on her senpai's door. There was no answer but the door swung open when she knocked on it. Apologizing, she stepped in, expecting to see Kyoya-senpai writing in his black book.

"Good grief." He was still sleeping.

Not one to pass up a chance to see the shadow king at his most vulnerable, Haruhi stepped closer to his bed.

She knocked over a pile of books when she reached the edge of the bed, only to be shocked when he started growling the worst epithets and death threats she had ever heard. She was honestly terrified. She had never heard him sound like this before. She took a step back as Kyoya-senpai turned over to face her. She saw the confusion in his face, heard him mumble something about "Not Tamaki" and then the next thing she knew, he pulled her into the bed.

"Hey!" She exclaimed and tried to pull away. He had rolled over and spooned her, trapping her in his arms. He was breathing lightly like he had gone back to sleep.

When she tried to turn her head to confirm whether he had, in fact, fallen back asleep in this most bizarre situation, he stirred slightly.

Hugging her closer, Kyoya-senpai whispered, "Sorry."

She froze. Did the shadow king just apologize? No, he must be talking in his sleep. Still, she was curious.

"For what, senpai?"

He was silent long enough for her to assume he went back to sleep.

With great effort, she managed to roll over and face him. Considering how he acted the last time he was awoken, she didn't want to startle him awake. Perhaps if she...

Haruhi reached up and ran her hand along his cheek. When he didn't stir, she gently patted his cheek. "Kyoya-senpai." Nothing. Taking the liberty, Haruhi said, "Kyoya, what are you sorry for?"

He groaned and pulled her closer to him still. Eventually, she heard him murmur, "For yelling at you..." he sounded sleepy. "For pulling you into bed..." His voice dwindled softly. "For yesterday..."

And he was gone.

As Haruhi thought about his answers, Kyoya's grip loosened. She was pretty sure she could leave the bed now if she wanted to, but she decided that she was pretty comfy where she was. She hadn't thanked him yet anyway; she might as well wait here until he woke up.

A couple of hours later Kyoya would be surprised to wake up to a pair of screaming twins, a stone Tamaki, a shocked Mori, and a bashful Honey in his room, not to mention Haruhi next to him in bed, fast asleep.

...

My little ending to the crazy events of the day before. :) At this point in the story, Haruhi had no idea that Kyoya couldn't get up early. She also strikes me as the type that would be mildly dense about being pulled into bed and just chilling there until he woke up.

Hope you liked it!


End file.
